


Flour, Eggs, Sugar, Milk

by chiarascura



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Baking, Cookies, Family, Food, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 05:00:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6456931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chiarascura/pseuds/chiarascura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leandra bakes cookies with Carver and Bethany</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flour, Eggs, Sugar, Milk

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Two Hawkes Are Better Than One](http://professionallilbrocarverhawke.tumblr.com/post/141829512977/two-hawkes-are-better-than-one-hawke-twin) character appreciation week!

Flour, eggs, sugar, milk. Leandra laid all the ingredients out on the kitchen counter in neat squares.  
  
Bethany leaned a hip onto the counter and watched her mother with a soft gaze. Carver slouched in one of the wooden chairs, arms folded across his chest, with a mutinous expression.  
  
“Mama, what kind of cookies do they have in Orlais?” Bethany’s innocent voice didn’t fool her mother.  
  
“I’m not sure, love. Something light and delicate, I would think. Maybe with almonds, we might have some in the cupboard. Do you want to make Orlesian cookies today?”  
  
Bethany’s cheeks turned a delicate pink and Leandra had a guess for why she wanted Orlesian cookies all of a sudden. “Well, maybe. They sound nice. Could we try?”  
  
Leandra hid a smirk by reaching up into a cabinet for a mold tray, one specifically for scalloped madelines that she hadn’t used in years. “Certainly, darling. Carver, do you want Orlesian cookies too?”  
  
She heard a grunt and when she returned to the main counter overlooking the kitchen table, Carver’s face flushed bright red. “No, I don’t. I want something really really good. Something that will punch you with flavor! Pow!” He mimed a punch and continued jabbing at air until Bethany stuck her tongue out at him. “They’ll be better than _yours_ , Bethy.”  
  
Bethany shook her head. “No way! Mine will be delicious.” Leandra tuned out their bickering and started mixing together the sugar and butter with firm strokes. Their chatter comforted her, the usual sounds of their voices playing off one another a good background for their regular baking sessions. The three of them gathered once a week since the twins turned six, spending Saturday afternoons together while Malcolm and Marian trained. Almost nine years continuing this tradition, and Leandra wouldn’t give it up for the world. She certainly never spent time like this with her own mother, who wouldn’t deign to dirty her hands with foodstuffs.  
  
Lothering didn’t have all the same ingredients she used to eat in Kirkwall, but there were good substitutes. The delicate apple butter her mother loved was not as easy to find here, but she made it for the family on special occasions. Carver often pretended to resist while his sisters dug in happily, only until they started teasing and he caved.  
  
Leandra clapped her hands together, cutting through the twins’ banter. “Alright, children, that’s enough. It’s time to make your own cookies.” She laid out ingredients for each one to pick from. “Beth, here are some almonds, do you want to grate them? I think there’s some extract in the cupboard as well, if you can reach it. Carver, here’s some peanut butter from the market, would you like to use that?”  
  
The twins erupted in a flurry of motion, mixing and grating and tasting. Bethany kept up a steady stream of chatter as they all worked, talking about the garden and gossip Marian brought from town. Carver frowned as he mixed, concentrating very hard on the slide of the spoon through the batter. His tongue peeked out to touch his upper lip, and Leandra saw the little boy trying to wield a play sword taller than he was, determined to grow big and strong to protect his sisters.  
  
Leandra began washing up the unused dishes as Bethany poured her mixture into her mold and Carver dropped his onto a buttered sheet of tin. She brushed off her hands after putting the cookies in the oven to bake, and the twins dropped into chairs at the table. She watched them from the corner of her eye as she wiped down the counter and put the rest of the dishes into the sink, knowing Carver would balk if he knew she paid them any attention.  
  
“Do you think Chantry sisters like cookies?” Carver’s words seemed absent-minded, and the way he froze and blushed made it apparent this was not a thought he meant to voice.  
  
Bethany’s eyebrows furrowed in a small frown. “Wait, you’re making cookies for the new Chantry sister?” Leandra pictured the young woman in her mind: pale and red-haired, apparently cute enough to catch _both_ her children’s eyes. Their regular attendance at every service made more sense with this revelation.  
  
Carver’s eyes suddenly glued to the table where he picked with a thumbnail at the wood grain. “Maybe,” he mumbled.  
  
Bethany made a wounded sound. “But _I’m_ making cookies for her!”  
  
Carver looked up and glared. “Nuh uh! She’s going to like _my_ cookies because they’ll be _so yummy_!”  
  
Bethany fisted her hands and hit them against the table. “No, _mine_ are more Orlesian, so she’ll like them better!”  
  
“Children, calm down. I’m sure she’ll like both your cookies.” Neither paid Leandra any mind.  
  
She laughed to herself as they continued bickering without heat, and Leandra wondered if she had been like this with her own mother as a teenager. She certainly didn’t have the same bond with Gamlen.  
  
When the tops of the cookies turned a delicate golden brown, Leandra pulled them from the oven and let the twins put them on baking racks to cool.  
  
Carver immediately popped one in his mouth, then bounced on his feet waving his hands frantically as it burned his tongue. Bethany and Leandra laughed as he spat it back onto the counter and waved his hand at his mouth, trying to fan his tongue. He glared at them and slumped back into the chair at the kitchen table.  
  
“Sweetheart, you know better than that,” Leandra said as she finished cleaning up the counters.  
  
Carver pouted. “I know, I just wanted to see if it was good.”  
  
“Mine will be better,” Bethany said under her breath, and Carver threw a stray almond at her.  
  
Leandra rolled her eyes as the almond food fight began. She loved her children, but _Maker_. They were a handful.

**Author's Note:**

> ignore the messed up timeline. I know leliana arrives in lothering after malcolm dies but.... shhhh these are not the droids you are looking for


End file.
